Hope in a Handbasket
by God's Demonic Messenger
Summary: Beacon Academy's best team is sent into Grimm-controlled territory on a near-suicidal mission and gets more than they bargained for. STRONG LANGUAGE BUT NO OTHER MATURE CONTENT
1. Author's Note

_Author's Note:_

 _This story is the first part of a trilogy, the individual elements being thus:_

 _1) Hope in a Handbasket_

 _2) Hope's Children_

 _3) Hope's Change_

 _I wrote this and the other stories in this defacto trilogy during the Christmas break of 2015, AKA the holiday break of Season 3 of RWBY. Therefore, in these stories, the canon is what it was before the events of the second half of Season 3._

 _If it happened at any point in that second half, it didn't happen in the canon of these stories._

 _I hope you enjoy them, and as always, Read and Review._


	2. Prologue

Professor Ozpin sat in his high back chair and stared out of the window of his high office tower at the looming signal tower across the campus.

"Professor Ozpin, we need to have a very frank discussion with you."

Ozpin sighed quietly and swiveled to face his monitor and the faces of the Vale council displayed on it.

"Very well. When would be convenient for you?"


	3. We've Got a Mission!

"Jaune, keep your head up!" Ruby shouted, just as the charging Cardin mowed down Jaune.

Ruby dashed across the pitch as Cardin dragged Jaune to his feet. "If I was a Grimm, you'd be dead."

"Yeah, yeah," Jaune replied as he gained his feet. Cardin climbed back up to his team.

Ruby looked him over and began, "Do you-"

"Yeah," Jaune said, "I was too focused on the net."

He looked away at nothing, his eyes darting, thinking, "If I'd kept my eyes open, I'd have seen Pyrrha waiting for the pass sooner."

"Yep," Ruby said brightly. She looked around as Jaune's team drew next to her through the convoluted field.

Played with two teams on either side, Geoffball was one of the more enjoyable ways to train. Each team used their regular weapons and their teamwork skills to get through a dense network of posts, fences, and drop walls in order to deliver a large ball to the other team's side and score. Against aggressive opposition, of course.

No single player could get through the field alone due to the dozens of buttons, latches, levers, and ropes needed to open the ways forward. Team RWBY, pronounced 'Ruby,' and team JNPR, or 'Juniper,' were top of the boards for the entire school because of how well they navigated it, even without communicating.

"Are you alright, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Good!" Nora shouted. "Now we can get back up there and kick their butts!"

"Ruby, let's get things going again!" Ruby's own teammate, her golden-haired sister Yang, called down from one of the thin walls above them.

"Coming!" Ruby shouted. "Let's go Jaune. You guys are doing great, just remember to keep your heads up and we'll make it 12 for 0."

"Right," he replied, rolling his shoulders. "Alright, Team JNPR, let's—"

"Team RWBY," the deputy headmistress Glynda Goodwitch said over the field's speakers, "Report to Professor Ozpin's office immediately."

Jaune and his teammates Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren looked at Ruby Rose with excited eyes. Her teammates Yang, Blake, and Weiss appeared above them, along with Cardin and the rest of team CRDL and its sister team.

Ruby smiled at them. In a blink, she was back up with her teammates, a trail of rose petals hanging in the air from her supernatural ascent.

"Alright! We got a mission!" Yang shouted, throwing her arms in the air.

"Finally," Blake said, smiling lightly.

"Yes, even _I_ was getting restless," Weiss said.

"Right then," Ruby said, her voice quivering in excitement. "Let's clean up, girls, then it's back through the breach!"

"Good luck!" Jaune and team JNPR shouted up at them.

"Ooh, ooh, bring me a souvenir!" Nora shouted.

Laughing, the four girls headed off to the showers, itching for their next mission.

oooooo

"Team RWBY," Professor Ozpin began from behind his desk. In front of him, the four members of Team RWBY waited in varying states of formality. "An opportunity has arisen to recover a substantial amount of research data from the Southeast District."

He waited as three of the girls shifted nervously. Before they could ask, he continued. "This research was being conducted on the nature of the Grimm. Specifically, the nature of their source. I had received word of a breakthrough shortly before the entire district was overrun. However, with the recent Grimm expansion further into Vale, the Grimm presence in that district has diminished somewhat. Hopefully enough to extract the data."

"Where's the data, Professor?" Ruby asked. Her teammates settled down beside her.

Professor Ozpin smiled. "Ruby, you didn't give me the chance to allow you to decline."

"Nope," Ruby said, smiling wide. Ozpin returned the gesture.

"Alright, then," he said, still smiling. Pressing a few buttons on his computer, he brought up a map of the Southeast District. "Undoubtedly the Grimm have already destroyed the original data where it was stored in the research complex here," he indicated a crumbling building in the center of the district, "but the researchers had the forethought to keep a backup some ways off-site, here."

A red ring appeared around the far southeast edge of the district, just where the Grimm had breached the city wall.

"The data will be in an underground complex, hidden under a small house," Ozpin pulled several data sticks from his desk drawer and rested them on the table.

"As you know, a huntress is expected to act fully autonomously," Ozpin said, smiling lightly at the four young women in front of him. Only just starting their third year at Beacon Academy, Team RWBY had almost immediately become the best team he had. Tasks he'd hesitate to give to any graduated team he gave without reservation to Team RWBY.

Such as this one.

Their leader Ruby was also two years younger than the other three, a fact that was very quickly recognized as irrelevant by her teammates and shortly thereafter by the rest of the school.

"Because of this," Ozpin continued, "I will not tell you _how_ to complete your mission. I entrust this mission to your own good judgment."

Weiss snorted, then passed it off as a cough when the others turned to glare; Ozpin smiled. Then the smile fell.

"Though you preempted me earlier, I want to be absolutely certain that you understand the risks," Ozpin said, "And are willing to accept them."

"It's the Southeast District, Professor," Blake said, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, we know it's dangerous," Yang said soberly. Or rather, as soberly as she could, which simply meant lacking most of her excitement.

"But we also know the Grimm aren't being stopped by what we already have," Weiss said primly.

"So we know why this is important," Ruby finished. "We're in. When do you need it by?"

Ozpin smiled down at the team. He'd chosen well when he'd made Ruby team leader. "We could make use of the data right now, if we had it."

The girls looked across at each other, smiling. "We'll see you again soon, then, Professor," Ruby said.

They turned around and jogged to the elevator, while behind them Ozpin's own smile fell.


	4. Once More into the Thingy

" _We're really going into the Southeast District?_ " Jake, their pilot, asked over the intercom of the transport ship.

"Yep!" Ruby shouted over the noise inside the sealed passenger compartment.

There was a pause, " _Alright then._ "

Ruby looked back at the deck plate. "Aww, man!"

"Hahaha! I told you I'd beat you in two more turns!" Weiss said.

"But—but—" Ruby whimpered. " _How?"_

"Woah," Yang said, sitting back, holding her own magnetic cards tightly. "That was unexpected. Weiss, you're starting to scare me a little."

Chin high, Weiss replied, "As I should. Especially since I still have several cards _you_ will find interesting."

"You can't possibly," Yang said uncertainly. "You'd need at least an Atlas Armada and the Elite Squadron to beat my Vacuo fleet! But you can't—"

Weiss threw two magnetic cards down on the deck. "Muahahaha!"

"Noooooo!"

"It's ok Yang," Blake said softly, cradling her partner against her chest. Yang clutched at the stoic girl and wept.

"Hahahaha!" Weiss continued. "I. Am. QUEEN!"

" _Cards away girls, we're getting close,"_ Lynda, the copilot and gunner said over the comm. " _But I think I'm gonna have to bring you down a peg when we get back, Weiss._ "

"Bring it on! The Queen of Vale fears no one!"

Together, the girls gathered up the small magnetic cards, tucked the gripping war for control of the four kingdoms back in the sacks hanging from the back wall, and rechecked their weapons.

The side door of the transport slid open, air thundering through and whipping the team's hair until they could hardly see each other's faces.

Ruby looked over the edge at the green forest far below. Because of the need to arrive unnoticed, Jake, their pilot, was keeping them nearly in the clouds.

"OKAY!" she shouted back at her teammates. "RED-TAIL IT IS!"

"WE _KNOW_ HOW WE'RE GETTING THERE, RUBY!" Weiss shouted back.

"YEAH!" Yang said. "STRAIGHT DOWN!"

"JAKE! HOW MUCH LONGER?" Blake said.

" _Whenever you want,"_ Jake replied. " _We'll circle around till you call._ "

Ruby looked back at her team. She smiled. "SEE YOU DOWN THERE!"

Then she backed out of the plane.

Ozpin watched her fall on his pad. Her team was immediately on her tail, falling thousands of feet toward the canopy below with nothing but Weiss's Glyphs to save them.

Talk about a leap of faith.

"Professor?" Glynda said from behind him. "The council members will be arriving shortly. Do you need more time?"

Ozpin look back at his friend. "No, I don't believe that will be necessary. Please alert me when they arrive."

"Of course, Professor."

Ruby rolled off the glyph Weiss cast to slow her fall, then headed for the next one.

Quiet was important. Professor Ozpin said the area was still full of Grimm, so arriving in a blazing descent wasn't really a good idea. Since they were falling too far for Blake's rope and neither she nor her sister Yang could land without their guns, Weiss's glyphs were the only way.

The green canopy drew closer and closer. After unlocking her scythe, she aimed for the last glyph, then hooked the blade of Crescent Rose around a particularly thick tree branch, spinning around it twice before letting herself fall the rest of the way.

Almost the moment she landed, three other soft thumps sounded all around her, one after another.

She caught her teammates' eyes. Yang looked psyched, Blake her usual calm, and Weiss looked just about fed up with her. So, basically normal.

" _Alright, spread out,"_ Ruby whispered. " _Keep sightlines. I'll see you guys at the house."_

" _Aye aye."_

" _Whatever you say."_

" _Alright."_

Ruby nodded, satisfied. " _Let's move."_

"Ozpin," Councilor Graham said, striding into the office, Councilors Branson and Werbraen following close behind him.

Professor Ozpin stood, "Councilors," he waived at the three chairs on the other side of the desk. "Please, have a seat."

The three councilors looked stiffly at each other and sat. Ozpin shifted the footage of Team RWBY making its way through the forest onto one of the wall screens.

The councilors looked darkly at the images. "So," Ozpin said, regaining their attention. "What did you need to speak with me about?"

"The way in which this school is managed," Branson said grimly.

"Indeed," Ozpin said dryly. "Which part, precisely?"

"All of it," Werbraen said. "This school is our answer to Atlas' military. Our huntsmen and huntresses used to be enough to defend against these sorts of incursions. However, rather than send them out to do their _jobs,_ you've kept them tight within these walls training."

"Training is important, Councilors," Ozpin said mildly. "And I hardly keep them here at all times." He gestured at the still-running footage of Team RWBY.

"Is that something you arrange for our benefit?" Branson demanded, staring at the wall screen.

"Hardly," Ozpin said. "It's a mission I've been planning for some time. It just happened to become truly possible shortly before your arrival."

"So what sort of missions _do_ you consider worth your students' time?" Graham asked. "Because they certainly don't include fighting Grimm on the frontlines."

"My students are many things, Councilors, but they aren't soldiers," Ozpin replied. "I do not train them to die heroically on the battlefield."

"They are meant to kill the Grimm!" Werbraen said. "They're supposed to fight for us! What is that but a soldier?!"

"You're mistaken Councilor," Ozpin replied. They glared at his serene face, "My students are not trained to fight the Grimm; they're trained to protect us from them."

"Everybody ready for this?" Ruby whispered from her place behind a large tree.

The other girls nodded with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Just past the tree line, a small house, its concrete roof threatening to fall in, stood apart from the other nearby buildings just through the large crumbling hole in the outer wall. They'd already scouted the area and, while most of the surrounding buildings had tons of Grimm, the small house appeared to be empty.

Several of their friends had family that had lived here before the incursion. Now, Ruby couldn't imagine anyone living in these ruined buildings.

"Alright, let's do this," Ruby said, drawing her scythe. She dashed ahead, her teammates following right behind. She looked left and right, searching for Grimm that might see them, but they'd apparently scouted too well for that sort of thing.

She reached the crumbling back door and turned around, aiming her scythe at everything, covering her team. At last, Yang barreled through the door, somehow making no noise.

Without saying a word, Weiss moved cautiously through the house to the false floor in the living room. By the time Ruby got there, Weiss and Blake had already pulled up the floor. The small keypad underneath was both innocuous and threatening.

If Professor Ozpin's memory wasn't quite perfect, the code he gave them wouldn't work, and it would sound an alarm. She really didn't want to find out how good the Grimm's hearing was today. Team RWBY was willing to take risks on a lot of things, but an entire district overrun by Grimm wasn't one of them. Usually.

They all held their breath as Weiss slowly, delicately typed in the code. A terrifying moment passed where nothing happened, then they all let out their breath as the sound of a lock shifting penetrated the thick metal door.

Weiss pulled the inset handle and yanked the door open. They all looked down into the dark hole; a sturdy metal ladder seemed to be the only way down. Yang grabbed a small piece of concrete from beside her and dropped it down.

After more than a minute, Blake said, "That's far."

"If you're the only one that heard it hit, then yes, it is," Weiss said.

"Cat ears," Yang whispered. "Gotta love 'em."

"Sometimes, yeah," Blake agreed.

A silence stretched.

"I don't want to climb down that," Ruby eventually said.

"If we close the door behind us, maybe we can get down our usual ways," Blake said.

"Yeah," Yang said, looking down the hole. "Because that ladder would just take way too long; you still have some blank rounds, Ruby?"

"Yep," Ruby replied, switching out the magazine of her scythe. Then she took a deep breath. "Alright then," she said, moving toward the ladder. "Down the deep, dark hole, with no guarantee of survival, no hope of rescue, and only our wits to keep us alive!"

"Sooo, I'm walking out alone, then," Weiss said, to general eye rolling. "Oh, come on! When do I get to joke?"

"What do you mean 'protect not fight?'" Graham said, leaning forward in his chair. "It amounts to the same thing!"

"It's a matter of perspective, Councilor," Ozpin said, swirling his coffee. "The Grimm feed on negativity. Fear, anger, hate. People use these feelings to fight, and in so doing feed the very enemy they seek to destroy."

"Protecting someone, on the other hand," he looked at each of the hostile faces, "requires love, hope, and, in some cases, blind faith."

" _Faith?"_ Branson said, sitting back further in his chair.

"Yes," Ozpin replied levelly. "Faith. Faith that there _is_ a way out. Faith that there _is_ a way to save them all, if only you are fast enough."

"That is a ridiculous—"

"Ozpin," Werbraen interrupted sharply. The others turned to see him staring hard at Team RWBY making its rapid way down a dark, forbidding ladderway. "Where is that team?"

The other Councilors looked back at the wall screen. "They are in the backup research complex, right next to the breach in the outer wall," Ozpin replied calmly. All three glanced at him sharply, "Excuse me, the outer wall of the Southeast District."

They sat speechless and staring. Ozpin smiled lightly. "As I said, my students are not soldiers, destined to die on the frontlines."


	5. Suicidal Rescue Mission: Why Not?

The three councilors looked rapidly back and forth between the two video feeds. On one, Ruby and Yang continued to move through the city, drawing every Grimm they could find after them; Deathstalkers, Beowulfs, Ursai, and even a few Giant Nevermores followed them through the tangled streets.

Every time the Grimm looked about to catch one of them, the other would send a few shots into the fray, causing just enough distraction to allow them to get away.

On the other feed, Weiss and Blake led fourteen refugees through streets emptied of Grimm by their teammates, rapidly approaching the hole in the wall.

The two teammates periodically moved off to either side of a street, looking for Grimm. Whenever they found one, they killed it as quickly and quietly as possible.

"This is…" Graham began.

"Impossible," Branson finished.

"How are they doing this?" Werbraen asked, turning toward Ozpin in his chair.

"You may _think_ it's impossible," Ozpin replied calmly, ignoring the harsh glance Graham sent his way while taking a sip from his coffee. "But no one told them that. And, on those rare occasions when someone did, they ignored them."

"But," Branson said, "how?"

Ozpin smiled. "I pick my leaders with great care, Councilor Branson. When her older teammates told her something was impossible, Ruby ignored them. Eventually, they started to believe that anything was possible, right alongside her.

"And individuals that have true faith in the possibility of the impossible can climb _any_ obstacle, no matter how tall," Ozpin finished, sipping again at his coffee.

"There it is!" Blake said from the front. They'd left the city walls behind several minutes earlier, then traveled through the dense forest toward the primary landing zone; a small clearing at the top of a rocky hill.

"Jake, _"_ Weiss said into her phone. "We're here, but there's been a change of plans."

" _Of course there has,"_ Jake's voice replied. The refugees huddled close to the ground, squinting in the unobstructed sunlight, all of them looking at Weiss and the voice coming from her phone, " _Where do you need me?"_

"Same landing zone,"Weiss replied, "But we're going to have more passengers."

" _What do you mean more passengers?"_ Jake replied. " _I'm not a Grimm Carrier Service, you know!"_

"Not Grimm,"Weiss replied, "Refugees. Fourteen of them."

" _How the hell—"_ Jake paused, " _No,_ _fuck it, never mind. Fourteen refugees, four huntresses, one big ass scythe. One sec."_

There was another pause. All the refugees looked back at Weiss, their faces frightened. Blake moved quietly around the group, constantly looking for trouble in the trees.

" _Right, our bird can handle that,"_ Jake said. The refugees all let out a breath. " _It'll be a pretty tight fit, but it can."_

"Alright, come and get us, then,"Weiss said."Ruby and Yang will be at the secondary landing zone."

" _Why?"_ Lynda said suspiciously.

"They're currently diverting the Grimm."

" _Son of a—That's really_ them _down there?"_

"Yes,"Weiss said.

" _I LOVE you girls,"_ Jake said, a smile thick in his voice. " _Damn, what I wouldn't give for one of you to be a man."_

Weiss rolled her eyes at Blake as she passed.

" _We're onboard, heading to the secondary landing zone,"_ Weiss' voice said in Ruby's ear. " _How much longer until you reach us?"_

Ruby slashed her scythe hard through five or six Grimm, the loud crack of her weapon's rifle ringing in her ears as she did. She wanted to answer, she really did, but there were just _way_ too many Grimm around her.

She dashed up onto a pile of crates, then leapt across the street, hooking her scythe on a windowsill. Glancing behind her, a great wall of black Grimm jumped after her.

" _Ruby?!"_ Weiss cried.

"Busy!" Ruby shouted back, flipping herself up through the window and into the building. A Grimm charged through the wall on her left as she ran. Another came from the doorway on her right. Cutting through them with tiring arms, she spun back around and kept running for the far window.

Concrete crumbled behind her as the wall of Grimm tried to force its way in after her.

"Yang?" Ruby shouted.

" _Not a chance!"_ Yang said, the sound of her wrist shotguns going off repeatedly filtering through the phone.

Nearing the window, Ruby glanced quickly through, saw a nearby building, blasted out the glass with her gun, and jumped through the gap, all without missing a step.

Falling through the air, she saw the shadow of a Giant Nevermore cast onto the building below her. She glanced at the open air all around her and smiled.

"Weiss?! We're not going to make it to the secondary landing zone!" Ruby said, air rushing past her ears as she fell.

" _What?!"_ Weiss' voice shrieked through her earpiece.

"Yeah, we're not going to make it," Ruby repeated, clawing her way up the five or so story building she'd hit. "We're going to need to do an aerial pickup."

" _A what?!"_ Weiss shouted. Ruby smiled, running across the roof of the building. She loved it when Weiss did that.

"An _aerial pickup,"_ Ruby said clearly. "Get Jake to hover about halfway along the city wall in the far south. We'll meet you there."

Then she resumed her mad dash through the city, now on course for a place she hoped she would be able to hitch a ride.

" _Ruby, if you're thinking what I think you're thinking,"_ Yang's voice said in her ear, " _Then I am the proudest older sister in the world_ , EVER."

"Meet you at that squat, red building in the middle?" Ruby replied, smiling.

" _Count on it,"_ Yang said. The grin couldn't be louder.

"What did she say?" Blake asked.

Weiss shook her head, "She said they can't make it to the secondary landing zone and we need to prepare for an aerial pickup."

"You don't think she means…" Blake said, eyes wide.

"Unfortunately," Weiss walked toward the cockpit, "that is _exactly_ what I think she means."

"What are they…" then Graham's eyes widened and his jaw fell.

"How…" Branson's jaw followed Graham's to the floor.

Werbraen turned and stared at Ozpin. "They can _do that?"_

Ozpin smiled.

"Incoming on the left!" Yang shouted over the rushing wind.

Ruby yanked her scythe handle to the right. The Giant Nevermore on her left missed them by a few measly feet. The one on their right tried to take advantage of their bank so Ruby tugged the scythe handle toward her.

Below her, Yang held one of her feet tightly with one hand, making sure it didn't go anywhere during particularly violent maneuvers.

Yang's other hand held just as tightly to a massive black feather, keeping _her_ anchored against the up and down motion of the Giant Nevermore's beating wings.

Their commandeered Grimm transport shrieked in pain as Ruby pulled the scythe embedded in its neck back and forth, giving it no choice but to go where they wanted.

"I can't believe we're doing this!" Yang yelled.

"I know!" Ruby shouted back. "It's _awesome!"_

"Yeah it is!" Yang grinned back.

" _Ruby, when we get back I am going to_ kill you!" Weiss' voice yelled in her ear.

Ruby smiled at the small plane in the distance. "We'll be there in a second."

" _Then what?!"_ Weiss said. " _If you think you're going to get to keep that thing, you are_ sorely _mistaken."_

"Of course not!" Ruby said, pretending to be offended. "No, you, Blake, and Lynda are going to aim at us, then when I say, start shooting."

There was a long pause, then a sigh. " _Fine."_ Another pause, then, " _We've got you. Whenever you say. So you know, I would prefer to kill you_ after _we get back."_

"'Kay," Ruby said, smiling. Then she yanked her scythe handle this way and that, leading her Giant Nevermore in front of, over, and on top of the other two, forcing them back behind her's.

The small plane grew bigger and bigger. She could see its large guns aim her way, spinning up. Soon, Ruby could see Weiss' flailing white hair and bright white dress. A little longer, she could see Blake's white shirt underneath her black vest.

When she could just make out Blake's black bow, she shouted at the top of her lungs, "NOW!"

A fraction of a second later, she pulled back hard on her scythe handle.

Her Giant Nevermore pulled up just as the bullets and glyphs reached them. They barreled under its tail and into the two following, tearing them both to shreds before they could even think to move.

Concentrating, Ruby shoved her scythe forward, forcing the Nevermore back down. Heading straight at the hovering plane, the refugees looking back in horror, Ruby pulled her scythe from the back of the bird-thing's neck and hooked it around the underside of it.

Together with Yang, they yanked, dragged, and blasted her scythe blade through the Nevermore's neck.

It pulled away with one last tug, barely two-dozen feet from the plane's bay, still careening at high speed toward it.

Weiss and Blake stood at the edge, arms out. Ruby and Yang leapt at them from the falling Grimm, still firing down at the corpse with their weapons. Their momentum carried them right through their teammates and into the wall of refugees, while the force of their shots sent the beheaded Nevermore skimming just under the plane.

"GO, GO, GO!" Ruby yelled from under Weiss.

" _On it!"_ Jake replied. The open bay door quickly sealed itself, then the plane accelerated up and away.

The passengers took several moments to untangle themselves. Finally, Weiss reached down and pulled Ruby to her feet.

Ruby felt sure she was going to yell at her again. She waited.

Weiss grabbed her and hugged her so tightly she could barely breathe. "Eh—Weiss. _Weiisss._ "

Eventually, Weiss let go and glared at her. "That was _insane._ Don't you ever even _think_ of doing something like that again."

"Hey, it worked, didn't it," Ruby replied, smiling.

"Hell yeah, it did!" Yang replied, pumping her fists in the air. "HELL FRIGGIN YEAH! That was the _COOLEST_ thing _EVER!"_

"It _was_ not! _"_ Weiss shouted, oblivious to the staring refugees. "It was—"

" _Crazy!"_ Lynda shouted over the comm.

"Thank—"

" _I have never seen something so damn crazy! That was amazing!"_

Weiss scowled at the cockpit.

" _I fucking LOVE you girls!"_ Jake said. " _NO other team pulls shit like that!"_

Weiss threw her arms up and rolled her eyes to the sound of congratulations.

"Your honors, Lynda!" Blake shouted over the noise.

The whole team turned to look at one of the view screens. This one displayed the corner of the Southeast District they'd just run from.

" _Thank you kindly,_ " Lynda said, a smile in her voice. " _Right, going in 3, 2, 1…_ "

When the charges blew, it looked as if a giant deathstalker had clawed its way to the surface only to drag all the nearby buildings and frantic Grimm back down with it.

"Nice," the four girls said in unison.


	6. Epilogue

The three Councilors and Professor Ozpin sat in silence. Footage of the plane flying through the clouds rolled on the wall, but none of them watched it.

Every few minutes, one of the Councilors would glance up awkwardly at the others. They'd meet eyes, then look away again.

Eventually, they heard a voice shout from the grounds through the open window. They couldn't hear what it said, but the pounding of feet on cobblestones followed almost immediately after.

The elevator door to the office opened. Glynda stepped out and walked forward. "Professor Ozpin, Team RWBY is back."

The plane touched down lightly on the landing pad. " _Thank you for flying Jake Richards Plane of Perpetual Terror. I've been your pilot, Jake Richards,"_ the door opened, " _I sincerely hope to never see you again."_

The refugees tumbled out of the plane, a few splaying out on the warm stone. Ruby and the others helped several of the injured out of the plane, then jumped down themselves.

Feeling slightly guilty, Ruby turned to Weiss, "We _did_ have a plan, you know. If we fell, we were going to—"

"Save it, Ruby," Weiss said, putting up a hand to silence her partner. "I know you did. Yes," she glared at her friend's face, "I do. You just scare me sometimes, okay?"

Ruby looked down at her feet, one of which was covered by the hand of a refugee lying spread-eagle on the ground. "Sorry."

Weiss sighed. "It's fine. Just… Please keep having plans, alright?"

Ruby smiled. "I promise."

Weiss smiled back.

The approaching crowd closed up around them, rapid firing questions at them as they helped the refugees up, with the team surreptitiously counting heads.

"Where'd you go?!"

"Who are they?"

"Where's my souvenir?!"

It went on for several minutes. Eventually, Ruby pulled the last refugee to his feet and was getting ready to hand him off to Pyrrha when a voice shouted from the crowd.

" _LIAM!"_

The crowd quieted somewhat, looking around. Young Liam surged forward, past Pyrrha and into the crowd. All the while someone deeper in shoved their way through toward him.

"Garrett!" Liam shouted back. " _Garrett!"_

A first-year student shoved the last few gawkers aside and picked his little brother up off his feet. He hugged him more tightly than anyone Ruby had ever seen.

"Liam, I thought…" Garrett said, "I thought…" He choked himself into silence, tears streaming.

Liam's voice came back muffled from the inside of Garrett's shoulder. "Garrett! The others wouldn't let us eat enough and it was so darkall the time but they wouldn't let us make more light and there were all these sounds we kept hearing, we thought any second they'd find us..." Liam paused, and his brother froze. Then Liam drew back away from his brother, "And you were supposed to save me! Where _were_ you?! Why didn't you come?!"

"I—" Garrett started, not meeting his brother's eye.

"He told Ozpin about you and the other survivors in the Southeast District," Weiss said firmly. The crowd stood as frozen as Garrett. "That's one of the reasons we were sent there."

"But you said—"

"I lied," Weiss replied, raising her chin. The crowd held its breath all around them. Team RWBY and the fully arrived Team JNPR stared at her in disbelief. "It was still a classified mission," she continued in her best imitation of her military-bred older sister, Winter. "But your brother alerted Professor Ozpin about you, and he sent us in right away."

"Really?" Liam asked, turning to his brother.

"Well, I…" Garrett looked behind Liam. The rest of Team RWBY and Team JNPR looked back, nodding their heads violently. "Yeah," he said, "Yeah, 'course I did. You're my brother; I'd never leave you out there if I knew you were alive."

Weiss smiled. A completely honest statement.

"I _knew_ it!" Liam said, throwing his arms back around his brother. The young Garrett looked up at the girl known all around the school as the Ice Queen and smiled wide.

The crowd cheered. Several of the refugees cried, and many in the crowd joined them.

Then the crowd rushed forward and swallowed the refugees and Team RBWY, sweeping them quickly across the large courtyard and into the main dining hall.

"Hope, councilors," Ozpin said, looking at the impromptu feast on his monitor. He focused, not on Team RWBY, but on the teams _around_ the team; their faces, their playfulness, the challenges they made to their teammates. The councilors looked hard at him, "Hope is how we win this time."


End file.
